Meadville High School captured a few awards at the Model Campaign USA competition at Allegheny College April 29. Pictured here, from left to right, are: Allegheny College senior Trista Szocs, who served as one of the high school’s student coordinators, and Meadville High School students Nick Wolfram, Gary Worthington (standing) and Nick Ozorak.

MEADVILLE, Pa. – May 6, 2009 – Ben Pearson, a senior at Wilmington Area High School in New Wilmington, Pa., doesn’t know exactly what he’ll take up in college yet, but he may have found some direction when he and his friends won a top award at Allegheny College on April 29.

The Wilmington students captured the “Best Campaign” award—along with “Best Direct Voter Contact”—at Model Campaign USA, an annual program sponsored by Allegheny’s Center for Political Participation. The program features a mock campaign in which area high schools compete to see whose team can execute the strongest campaign.

“It was just a great feeling that we you can come together like this and accomplish such a goal like we did,” Pearson said after his team won. He’s leaving open the possibility of majoring in political science.
Mary Beth Acker, their teacher, proudly added that her students have won the top award once before. “I love bringing my kids here,” she said. “It has always been a wonderful event for us.”

“Especially in light of today’s quickly changing digital media, many see political campaigns as ever-more complicated affairs,” says Political Science Professor Daniel M. Shea, director of the Center for Political Participation. “We believe that by providing a variety of high-energy hands-on activities—projects that engage students’ creativity and curiosity—Model Campaign USA encourages participants to experiment with persuasive, community-building tools as a means of creating positive change.”

More than 100 students and teachers from regional high schools converged on Allegheny for the event. Besides Wilmington, other schools included: Meadville Area High School, Meadville; Hickory High School, Hermitage, Pa.; Rocky Grove High School, Franklin, Pa.; Grove City High School, Grove City; and Fort LeBoeuf High School, Waterford, Pa.

The schools broke up into teams to run the campaign of a Republican candidate in a fictitious race against a three-term incumbent Democrat representing the 6th Congressional District of New Jersey. Among other things, the participating schools devised press releases and used the Internet—including Twitter and YouTube—to promote their candidate.

Keynote speaker Mari Mullen, the wife of Allegheny College President James H. Mullen Jr., discussed her own political activism and challenged the students to “make a difference.”

Student fellows of the Center for Political Participation judged the schools in various areas, including polling, fundraising, direct voter contact, press and public relations, and their use of the Internet.
Fort LeBoeuf teacher Paul Cousins brought his students to the mock campaign for the first time. They walked away with two awards: “Best Targeting” and “Best Ethical Standards.”

“My kids can’t wait to come back next year,” Cousins said. “Now that they know how this works, they’re eager to return.”

Other award recipients were:

• Meadville High School, Team 1 — “Best Polling” and “Best Press Relations”
• Hickory High School — “Best General Strategy”
• Meadville, Team 2 — “Best Internet Campaign”
• Rocky Grove High School, Team A — “Best Public Relations”
• Rocky Grove, Team B — “Best Fundraising”
• Grove City High School — “Best Electronic Media”

Besides campaigning, the students had a chance to attend a luncheon keynoted by Mari Mullen, the wife of Allegheny College president James H. Mullen Jr. Mullen discussed her own political activism and challenged the students to “make a difference.”

“Go out. Be passionate,” she advised.

Mullen’s interest in politics started early, with her mother having been elected the first woman mayor of Bangor, Maine, as well as a Maine state representative. Mullen’s father also served as mayor of Bangor.

“That’s where I found my passion for politics… at home,” she said.